JEDDAH, 18 January — Spine tingling games heated up the cool and breezy night, as Nouri Trading and Gillette Mach3 registered overtime victories on resumption of the 2nd Danube Inter-color Basketball Tournament elimination rounds at the Lotus IV compound in Jeddah.
Nouri Trading came up with banged up plays en route to an 87-83 overtime win against Star Carma. Fresh from their first taste of victory, Nouri Trading was confident of posting another win in an easy fashion but their opponent lived up to their giant-killing reputation that almost stole the limelight.
Star Carma was leading by 9 points at the half when the gutsy Ruen Villegas came to the rescue for Nouri Trading and finally took a two-point lead in the final 60 seconds. However, the unheralded Bobot Rondares tied the score for Star Carma at 75-all, followed by a fair share of a miss by the opposing teams before the time expired.
The extra period saw both teams still hard as nuts to crack. They fought doggedly until Nouri Trading came up with successive shots from underneath the basket, while Star Carma visibly missed the services of their center player Vic Mabutol who could have effectively controlled the shooting spree. Mabutol was slapped with a five-foul disqualification late in the second half. The win was coach Choi Reyes’ second consecutive victory after 2 consecutive losses.
Villegas was adjudged best player of the game by posting a league-high 41 points, with Marlon Calayo and Lito Llave adding 20 and 13 points, respectively. The losing Star Carma was led by Vic Mabutol with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while star player Willy Perez and the old but still reliable Willy Lacoste Cartajena sank 15 and 10 points.
Cartajena also holds the league’s record of 6 three pointers in a game, while Bobot Rondares had his finest showing of 10 points including the shot that sent the game into overtime.
The other overtime victory saw Danube Mach 3 pulling the rug from under Danube Green Giant, 66-62. Coach Jonas David applied the lesson he learned from their setback over the lowly rated Star Carma, wisely fielding his players that bore fruit. By half-time, his team was leading by 9 points that turned into thin air when the never-say-die Green Giants’ attitude went to work. They unleashed a 9-0 run that tied the score in just a short span of time, followed by a neck and neck battle that saw both teams standing alongside at least a dozen times. The last stand-off was at 52 when Green Giant missed a desperation attempt, needing an extra five minutes to decide the issue.
Several lead changes surfaced the overtime period before Danube Mach 3 found a way to lead by a hairline, with only ten seconds left in the game. The ensuing play saw John Garcia grabbing an offensive rebound and converted a put back that signaled Danube Mach 3’s second victory against a lone setback, thanks to the superb coaching skills of Jonas David.
John Rodman Garcia was adjudged best player of the game by chipping in 11 points, pulled down 17 rebounds, stole the ball 4 times and issued 4 assists. Ramil Martin, Bong Faeldonia and Joel Valiente ably supported Garcia with 22, 13 and 9 points. The losing Danube Green Giant team was faced by Manuel Campos, Aldrin Abutan and playing coach Darius Valencia with 20, 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Monday’s game result had the trio of Marlon Calayo, Ruen Villegas and Lito Llave combining their efforts for Danube Nouri Trading to enjoy its first taste of victory via 70-56 thumping of Danube Fruto. With playmaker Marlon Calayo showing his best game so far, Nouri Trading dictated the tempo of the game all through out.
The win was also a warm welcome for the arrival of their star player Ruen Villegas who tallied 16 points, while Llave added 14 points. On the other hand, trigger man Bruce Banaag top-scored with 18 points, supported by Michael Bendicio and Ariel Gabia with 14 and 12 points.
The other game showed Lotus American Garden capping Danube Sadafco’s winning run with a 71-67 victory. Amang Catador, who was adjudged best player, blazed the hoops with a team-high score of 27 points. He got ample support from Elmer Valdez and Johnny Pacillos with 11 points apiece. The win was coach Bong Yapbuan’s third against a solitary loss.
